by Donna M. Carbone
While working on the computer in my office, I have the benefit of looking out a wall-sized window that faces onto a skyscape of beautiful trees and delicate clouds. Four flights up, my view is of palm trees pas jete-ing in the breeze against a usually sunny back drop of endless blue. Making the experience even more serene is the aviary chorus that lines up to rehearse on the ledge each morning.
Mere millimeters separate me from the ravens, jays, doves and, occasional, vultures that come to roost. They play... and fight... like children, unaware that I am watching them. Occasionally, they will look back at me, tilting their heads with inquiry, as if to ask, "Who are you? What are you doing in our world?"
I'm not sure they can actually see me. Perhaps, they are only seeing their reflections in the glass. If that is so, I am forced to wonder how we would behave if the situation was reversed.
Would we recognize our true selves sitting there on the sill? Are we more like the blue jays, who peck at the smaller birds, forcing them to fly to a safer perch? Or, would we behave more like the doves, always willing to move over and make room for one more?
Would our actions shame us? My hope is that, like most of my feathered friends, we would sing out with pride.
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